You get my 2 cents' worth … and a lefty's view of ball and other (less important) matters.

Hurdle gets an extension — and a mandate

Pirates club chairman Bob Nutting, who on Tuesday gave manager Clint Hurdle an extension through 2014 with an option for another season, but who also signed off on John Russell being fired after 2010 with a year left on his deal:

“We must take a step forward. We expect to win. I expect to win, Frank (club president Frank Coonelly) expects to win. Neal (general manager Neal Huntington) expects to win. And the idea that an extension is a free pass is exactly the message that I would not want to send, and exactly the message that Clint would not want to hear.

“We’ve absolutely shown that we’re willing to make a change if we need to, irrespective of contract terms.So Clint and everyone in the organization knows that.”

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The usual slate of the Tee-Shirt Fridays is on the Pirates’ schedule. I assume all the different designs are taken care of, but if the brains behind the very popular promotion get stuck, might I make a suggestion?

You get new closer Jason Grilli to pose with The Fort.

Above the pic: Mac N’ Cheese.

Below: You Know You Love It!

With one of those curled-into-a-smile pieces of macaroni, yellow on black.

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